Coming to a halt below the throne, which was being occupied by the King, Jasmine and I bowed, greeting him. "It's good to see you, Your Majesty." Flashing a smile, the King nodded, returning the greeting. "Count Vestalis; among the people I must interact with, you are indeed more of the likable ones." I couldn't help but wryly smile at his honest remark.
"Um, I suppose I should take that as a compliment." "That would be best… So, is that the 'Television' you spoke about previously?" Faintly nodding, he gestured to the TV I was carrying, causing me to grin. "Yes!" Smiling, I set the TV on the floor, only to furrow my brows as I looked between it and the King.
"Hmm, may I use this?" Approaching an end table placed beside a pillar, I glanced at the King, who dismissively waved his hand, not bothered enough to care. Setting the vase down, I carried the end table over and placed the TV atop it. "Alright! Now, your Majesty, I have a few questions if you don't mind answering."
Confidently smirking, I straightened my suit and glanced at the King, who raised an eyebrow, prompting me to walk back and forth. "Your Majesty, are you a fan of plays?" "To an extent." "How many times do you leave your palace to see a play in a year?" "A few times." "I see… Now, what would you say prevents you from attending more plays? Is it the act of leaving your home? Being required to wear uncomfortable clothes? Or the process of traveling from and to the play?"
Stopping beside a pillar, I turned on my heel and looked at the King, who slowly nodded. "All the above." Smirking, I approached the TV, my finger hovering just above the power button. "So you agree that plays would be more enjoyable if they could be brought to YOU instead of the other way around?" As he nodded, I pressed the button. "Well then, behold, the PLAY has been brought to you."
As I stepped to the side, standing to the right of the TV, which was now playing a classic play of a knight saving a princess, at first, the King narrowed his eyes, eyeing the play, but as he watched, his eyes slowly widened as he leaned forward, watching intently with bated breath.
Seeing how deeply concentrated he was, I nearly busted out laughing; however, I managed to keep my cool, even if my lips quivered a bit. "Your Majesty, may I." As I gestured to the steps, he slowly tore his gaze away from the TV and looked at me before nodding.
Reaching into my breast pocket, I climbed the steps to his throne, standing just a foot away from him as I handed him the remote. "This is a remote; by pressing these two buttons, you can cycle through different plays." His eyes widened even further at my instructions as he pressed the button, changing the channel to a romantic play, then to a musical, and finally to a video of me with my wives.
"I-I didn't realize we kept that. P-Please forget about that." Blushing slightly, I quickly pressed the button, changing the channel to another play, though the King didn't seem bothered at all as he changed the channel, prompting the first play to show again.
"Currently, we only have four plays, five if you count the testing video, but anyways, that is the Television… We bring the PLAY to YOU!" Clearing my throat, I walked down the steps, ending the pitch with my slogan as Jasmine and I gestured to the TV.
There was a long moment of silence as he stared at us, but eventually he composed himself and leaned back in his seat, his expression turning solemn. Several minutes passed as he stared at us with a pondering gaze before he finally opened his mouth to speak.
"You pitched this invention to me in hopes of getting the Kingdom's backing, correct?" Narrowing his gaze, he rested his chin on his hand while I nodded. "Yes. Exactly." As an A-rank adventurer, I was rather confident in my strength and in protecting myself from most occurrences, but if I were to release something like the TV to this world, the backing of a Kingdom would be the bare minimum I'd need.
"I admit, this is without a doubt the most incredible invention I've witnessed in my life." "I appreciate it–" "However, if something is too good to be true, then it probably is. I'm sure you've heard such a saying." As his gaze narrowed at me, clearly expecting an 'IF' or 'BUT' from me, though I just smirked.
"You're right… Currently, the TV isn't ready for release. As you've witnessed, we've only created video feedback, so we're still missing audio. Production costs are very low as the materials needed are basic; I mean, this is just wood and iron." Nodding, I rubbed my bearded chin, glancing at the King while knocking on the TV. "Ah, is this where the 'but' appears?"
"Hehe, no, not quite." Chuckling, I shook my head. "Mass production is a bit of an issue; if I scale it down to just the wealthy, such as nobles, then it's possible to accommodate them without much challenge. But if we try to scale up to allow commoners to acquire them, that would be tough. Not impossible, but tough."
Frowning slightly, I scratched my head while looking at the TV.
Each TV is operated by a small mana crystal roughly half the size of my fist, which acts as a receiver to the main mana crystal that Lazuli was currently observing, which was the transmitter. Everything was stored in the mana crystal Lazuli was observing; the crystal in the TV was merely receiving the mana signal and displaying it onto the screen.
However, the problem is that I create all the mana crystals; although I can create small ones pretty easily, I'm currently limited to about twelve a day, and that's when I push myself. 'Tsk, who am I kidding, it's impossible to scale the production of TV's up. Even if I made 12 a day, that would only equal about 4300. That's not even a quarter of the population of Cassandra, let alone the entire continent.'
As time progressed, I'd be able to make more crystals, and Lazuli would get better at transcribing circuits onto the mana crystals, which would let me make them smaller, but even then, I couldn't actually see us scaling up to such a large population.
"Okay, I'd like to take back what I said; on second thought, it would be close to impossible to sell these to commoners." As I shifted my gaze to the King, he was staring at my sheer disbelief, though when he heard my words, he heaved a sigh and rubbed his face. "Y-You scared me for a second. There's no way something so incredible could have no drawbacks… Still, if you can produce enough for the wealthy, that is already more than impressive."
"How long until you can add audio?" "Hmm, I don't know." "You don't know? Aren't you the one who invented this?" "Oh, no, the two of us are merely assistants; honestly, even calling myself an assistant is a bit much." Scoffing, I shook my head as I gestured to Jasmine and I, causing the King to raise an eyebrow.
"The Inventor himself isn't pitching his own invention?" "Ah, honestly, she seems to care more about the invention itself than meeting with you." At my words, he faintly chuckled, not offended by my honest words. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Someone who could make something so incredible couldn't possibly be ordinary."
"Now then, let us talk about what's truly important… The profits." The King's gaze intensified as he looked at me, but I'd already considered this, so I was prepared. "Considering this will only be for the wealthy, I was thinking somewhere around one platinum–" "10." I nearly ended up choking at his words; I already thought one platinum coin was a lot, but ten seemed like highway robbery.
"10 platinum coins isn't even a limit. I'd be willing to pay several diamond coins for this TV once it's finished." "Even so, is 10 not a lot, your Majesty?" "That's the point, Dear. The wealthy want to feel better than commoners, so by spending more, they feed their ego that they're better than commoners, who could never amass such wealth. To Nobles, they care more about their ego and their reputation."
As I glanced at Jasmine, who spoke confidently with her arms folded, I furrowed my brows, nodding. "Huh, I see." "Ho, seems I was mistaken, I thought you were just a pretty face." The King seemed decently impressed with Jasmine as he shifted his gaze to her for the first time, causing her to smile. "I like to think I'm both, Your Majesty." "Hmm, you were there alongside Vestalis during the banquet." "Yes, I'm Jasmine Vestalis, his fifth Wife." "You have the qualities of Nobility…" "Ah, well, something along those lines."
"Well, if that's the case, what if we make a separate version that's only back and white? We can sell the colored version for more; it'll separate the wealthy from the rich." Scratching my head, I glanced between the two, who both looked at me, nodding in approval. "Hehe, you may be ignorant, but you're a quick learner, Vestalis."